Best Cabernet Sauvignon Under $25

Wine Royalty?

Cabernet Sauvignon is considered to be the King of Wine; the Royal Family who has achieved a cult-like status and the most coveted wine collections have some of the rarest bottles of Cabernet displayed prominently, right? Well, sort of. Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely one of the wines that collectors go after, and some of the famous names we’ve all heard (Mouton Rothschild, Latour, and Margaux in Bordeaux, France) to the famous ones from Napa (Screaming Eagle, Bryant Family, Colgin) are definitely among the most sought after wines in the world. But lucky for us we don’t have to mortgage the house to buy a good Cab. Thankfully, there are some great ones at—let’s just say—a significantly cheaper price.

Popular Dinner Choice

Cabernet (or Cab as we like to say) is the red wine drinker's main choice of red at dinner. Although we as a nation (USA) drink more Merlot than any other red wine, at dinner in restaurants Cabernet hands-down is the most popular wine to be sold. And it’s easy to see why—personally I think nothing is better than a great steak with a glass of Cabernet. Most hearty dishes go well with the wine. So let’s take a look at the characteristics.

Cabernet Characteristics

A classic Cabernet possesses a dark berry; cassis aroma. It’s a dark fruit for sure; some people even say blackberry or other dark berries, which all fits the profile. What sets this wine apart from other reds is the earthy, vegetal nuances that appear. A typical bouquet in the nose of a Cab is sweet green pepper and other vegetal aromas, which may sound bad but in a small amount it adds to the complexity. Because Cab spends more time in oak than most other varietals, the oak-derived aromas are deep and integrated: Vanilla, coffee, chocolate, toast, butterscotch are all things you can easily find in this wine. So, put all of this together and you have a very deep, dark, complex wine.

Without Breaking the Bank

As we discussed, you don’t have to buy the $100+ Cabs to be able to drink good wine. By no means! There are some fabulous finds for $25 and under than I heartily recommend, and ones you will find if you come to my house for dinner (sorry, not taking reservations anymore). So, without further ado here are some great cabs to look for under $25:

Some Suggestions:

• Rodney Strong Sonoma County Cabernet. I love this wine because it’s consistent year in and year out. It’s their basic Cabernet, as they have other more expensive bottlings (which I also recommend), but for the price, it’s hard to beat. This wine shows classic vanilla and subtle spice and the fruit is the ripe berry, dark cassis that Cab lovers like. Rodney Strong is a large producer…the benefit to that is you can find this wine almost everywhere (even Costco). You can expect to pay anywhere from $17 to $22 for this bottle, but try looking at your favorite inexpensive wine places first.

• Lake Sonoma Winery makes an inexpensive Cab that is quite enjoyable. Owned by Korbel (the sparkling wine house), this winery facility recently re-located, but has a tasting room in Healdsburg, CA if you’re in the area. This wine is a lighter-bodied Cab, but the dark fruit is still prominent. This wine will go very well with lighter fare.

• Heitz Winery in Napa is one of my favorite all-time Cabernets. Their Martha’s Vineyard Cab is world-renowned and quite expensive, but an awesome wine I will get for very special occasions. However, that isn’t the only Cab they do—their Napa Valley Cabernet is reasonably priced at $23, and a great wine at that price. This wine shows off the classic oak aroma that you can expect to find, but the fruit is almost a bit minty, with a touch of vanilla and coconut. The cassis flavor matches to these other aromas to make for a splendid treat.

• Windsor Vineyards sneaks under the radar quite often because they are mostly a mail-order only operation. They make a plethora of wines that span the whole gamut: from Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, sparkling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Carignane, Merlot…you name it. But since they don’t really distribute and rely on their scores from wine competitions and direct sales to get the word out, it works quite well for them. If you buy wine from them you can even have a personal label made, which is sort of nifty for gifts. There are many Cabs that fit the price point that they make: Paso Robles, North Coast, and Mendocino County (my personal favorite). The Mendocino County ($18) reminds me of Bordeaux in that it has the green pepper nuance with the lush fruit on the palate. It’s dark and tannic, which leads me to think you can lay these wines down for quite some time.

• Geyser Peak Winery constantly produces wines that do quite well in wine competitions. Their Alexander Valley Cabernet is no exception. This wine has wonderful lush, ripe dark fruit flavors, but it’s easy to drink because it’s so soft and smooth on the palate, making it a “drink now” wine. I have had this one with sirloin right off the grill and the combination was fantastic (and luckily impressive to my date!) At $18 a bottle, I heartily recommend this wine to those of you who don’t care for the heavier tannin content that some Cabs contain. You won’t be disappointed.

Just the Beginning

As always, this list is just a starting point and we encourage you to go out and find some special value finds of your own. Half the fun is exploring and discovering a gem that you too can share with friends and family. Enjoy!